STUDIO BRIEF 1 - PROFESSIONAL STRATEGY

PLAN

STRUCTURE

1. Review of year (level 4, intentions for l5, developing process, studentship)

2. Ethos and principles (development of a theoretical focus, promote tangible and engaging objects)

3. Manifesto/ Level 6 (find my place in the museums and galleries sector, learn about how not to go freelance, integrate in illustration community)

POINTS TO COVER

- Reflect on learning taken place on PP
- How have I changed as an illustrator and learner?
- Have my ambitions/ professional outlook changed over the course of L5?
- What personal concerns have I developed and how will I explore these in L6?
- Has PP altered my decisions about my career?
- What aspects of my developing skills set will I develop next year, particularly in the professional sense?

SLIDE STRUCTURE

1. Welcome & intro (bookend)

2. INTENTIONS - Successes of L4 and intentions for development over L5

3. SKILLS - Transformative moment - printmaking and half-toning (about the author)

4. PERSONAL PRACTICE - How my practice has become more and more grounded in contextual and theoretical research

5. PROCESS - Transformative moment - zines as a process of idea generation as well as construction of tangible object

6. PROCESS - practice founded on print and book binding, celebrating the absolute joy of tactile images

7. PROCESS - Developed an identifiable colour palette, print making as a means of attaining a focal point/ end goal, as well as process

8. ETHOS - Started to focus more and more on aspects of heritage, using my illustration practice to promote accessibility and visibility

9. CHALLENGES - My relationship with my practice has been topsy turvy, started to hate idea of being freelance

10. PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE - Contacting Toby Rampton helped me to see how I could attain a balance between a personal practice and a community facing practice

11. PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE - Taking part in exhibitions and print fairs to reach wider audience and creative community

12. MANIFESTO - How do I want to sustain and develop my individual concerns? Goals for L6?
13. Thanks & questions (bookend)



SCRIPT

SLIDE 1 : INTRODUCTION

Hello there. Reflecting on the year, I've broken my presentation down into 3 areas; a review of my year, my developing ethos and principles, and establishing a manifesto for level 6.

SLIDE 2 : LEVEL 4

-My approach to the initial stages of level 5 was largely informed by the successes and enjoyment of level 4
-My Men of Morris book and final PPP poster were both heavily informative to my emerging practice. Both projects allowed me to explore issues of heritage and tangible crafts, issues that have become pivotal to my practice
-Toward the end of L4, my character work become more shape based and abstract, another area that has solidified in my L5 practice
-Work was primarily focused on character and gesture, an approach I wanted to explore further this year

SLIDE 3 : TRANSFORMATIVE MOMENT - PRINT MAKING

- About the Author served as a transformative moment in my practice as I learnt a great deal more about overlays and half-toning for print than I had previously practiced
- My image making became more informed and process led, considering my images as assets for print and simulating drawings for print development to explore the exhaustive approach my work could take
-Colour became key here too as in this project I really solidified my trademark, so to speak, a palette that has continued across all areas of my work

SLIDE 4 : RESEARCH FOCUS

-Starting with my research into Shakespeare, then onto heritage and brass bands, contextual and theoretical research has grown from a mere starting point, learning the basis of my subject, to a research practice that drives my work
-Research, critical reading and writing are pivotal to my work and I enjoy reading essays and articles around the themes of my work to really engross myself in the subject
-My practice is grounded in an ethos around the value of story telling and learning and as such, writing is really important to my creative practice, I'm at the point where probably 1/3 of my sketchbook is writing

SLIDE 5 : TRANSFORMATIVE MOMENT - ZINES

-The zine task in About the Author was a real turning point for me. It forced me to work freely and quickly and generate playful and unlimited images. 
-Zine making feels like a very free and personal process and I found making a zine as a starting point really set my work in motion
-The context of a zine or book fits neatly in my intent for practice, to create tangible and engaging visual objects, so practically the process of making a publication is appropriate and creatively viable

SLIDE 6 : BOOK BINDING BECOMES KEY

-From the first zine of the year, I have been encouraged to think of my work more as an object and book binding has worked hand in hand with my collage and paper cut practice
-Tangibility is pivotal to my ethos as I love the absolute joy of the interaction between pages
-Playful bookbinding enables me to explore a relationship between separate assets and attaining a more fluid narrative
-Book binding as a process corroborates my intent for practice, alongside print making, to celebrate traditional and tangible processes

SLIDE 7 : CRAFT & PROCESS

-As well as book binding, my practice has become seemingly focused around print. The limitations, or constructs of printmaking force me to think more technically about my image making
-Across the year, I have invested a great deal of time in the exploration and development of half-toning, I'm now at a stage with my print work where I find myself unable to make a positive with less that 4 values of 1 ink
-Technically, print making has driven my skills both practically and digitally through thorough practice of print processes and the manipulation and application of software to maximise my outcomes
-The joy of objects is key and I am keen to use my crafted approach to illustration to explore scale and miniatures

SLIDE 8 : DEVELOPING AN ETHOS

-Stemming from an underlying interest in social history, the role of heritage has flourished in my work this year, particularly through COP
-My intent for practice revolves around a belief in the value of cultural collections, learning and acquired knowledge
-I wanted my work to serve a conceptual purpose and drive a conversation about visual media and learning
-Accessibility naturally stems from the issues around culture and so my practice will continue to be informed by universality and visibility to a wider audience

SLIDE 9 : STRUGGLES & CHALLENGES

- My life has been fairly topsy turvy this year and as a result my work has suffered
- From the beginning of L5 I have been struggling with belief in my own work and a failing work ethic because of my mental health
- My practice has suffered from this as my motivation has ebbed and flowed all year
- January marked a turning point in my practice as I was really invested in my print practice and as a result, I made lots of work of a high technical quality, quite quickly
- From my struggles I've learnt that for my practice, it is important to throw myself into the approaches I enjoy, rather than getting hung up on the approach and structure that my peers take
-Spending a lot of time writing and reading is right for me!

SLIDE 10 : PROFESSIONAL INSIGHT

- The PP seminars and workshops we have had pretty much scared me away from illustration entirely. I knew I loved making work, but for a period, there was nothing that scared me more.
- I've learnt that I don't think I could be a freelance illustrator, I enjoy team work and want a community facing practice
-Speaking to Toby Rampton was a defining moment in my professional ambitions as he helped me to realise the place my practical work can have, alongside a community and education based practice, working as a print tutor and workshop leader
- I love making work and producing objects, but I like the idea of making them for myself more than making them for a client, and so I would like to channel my professional work into teaching others the value of creative practice

SLIDE 11 : PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE

- Professional development opportunities have come in the form of print fairs and exhibitions
- The 'Off the Page' show at CMV was a really great first experience at working with an external venue for organisation and execution of an exhibition
- I took the lead on administration and liaison with participants, making labels and recording details of art work
-Opportunities like the exhibition and print fairs enable me to practice my organisation and communication skills, something I believe to be a strength of mine, I think my professional communication will definitely drive my public/ client facing profile

SLIDE 12 : ONWARDS & UPWARDS

-Moving into L6, I really want to zone in on specific areas of my current practice. My main goal is to become a master of book-binding; I want to celebrate and promote the absolute joy of tangible and crafted objects
-While heritage underpins my intent for practice, I need to embrace this more explicitly in my narratives, to really do it justice
-A community facing profile will be pivotal to my professional development post-graduation so I want to get actively involved in workshops and outreach opportunities, something which will be aided by my new role as a university outreach ambassador
- Finally, to feel completely satisfied with my degree, I want to make happy work to stay happy, I want to graduate as me, not as a shell of myself. I got this!

SLIDE 13 : CONCLUSION

-Thank you
-Any questions?